New order
by blakes8th
Summary: A new case for Ronnie and Matt hits close to home, and they need the help of some old dogs to save one of their own. Crossover with New Tricks and Law and Order uk.
1. Chapter 1

New Order

Disclaimer: New Tricks belongs to the BBC, and Law and Order UK belongs to Kudos, ITV and Dick Wolf. I'm just crashing the party.

New Tricks/Law and Order UK crossover

Rating; M for swearing and violence. Adult situations implied.

Author's note: Okay, this is new to me, I've never attempted a crossover like this before. Looking at around series seven for New Tricks, and series five for Law and Order UK. I know that chronologically they don't match up, but these are the characters I want to work with, so give me a little creative freedom here. Xxx

/

"God what a foul morning!" DS Ronnie Brooks muttered to himself as he stepped out of his car into the relentless rain. He pulled the collar of his trusty old beige mac up around his face and set off towards the flashing blue lights and bustle of uniform which signified his destination a few houses away. As he walked he was suddenly stopped by a familiar voice calling him from the other side of the road, he looked up and saw an older man in a battered green jacket looking to cross the road towards him, a spark of recognition went of in his mind and he broke into a broad smile.

"Bloody Hell! Gerry Standing. It must be ten years..."

"And the rest Ronnie." The other man, with his sparkling blue eyes and greying sandy hair smiled back. "What's going on?"

"Thought you retired."

"I did, but what can I say. They missed me so much they begged me to come back..."

"Wanted to keep an eye on you, more like." Ronnie saw an older man approaching, Gerry smiled.

"Ronnie Brooks, Jack Halford. Jack and me work for UCOS." Gerry introduced the men. "I worked with Ronnie in vice for a while." Ronnie nodded to the older man. "So, what's the story?" Gerry pointed to the flurry of police activity ahead in the road.

"To be honest mate, I've only just got here myself. You?"

"Oh, we just came to check up on our Guv'nor. She hasn't turned in yet, and isn't answering her phone. She lives up here, just moved in. Makes sense now thought, there's no way Sandra could walk past all this and not get involved. She's probably in amongst that lot somewhere."

"If I know Sandra, she's probably organising it." Jack added.

"You'd better come with me then." Ronnie laughed and set off towards the scene. They approached the crime scene tape which blocked their way and the three men flashed their ID at the young uniform standing guard. They carried on for a few minutes until a young CID approached them, Ronnie introduced Matt Devlin to the older men.

"So what have we got Matt?" He asked. Matt opened his notebook.

"Next door neighbour came round after his cat came through the hedge leaving a trail of bloody paw prints, found the door wide open and saw blood on the door frame and the wall inside. Called us. There's the body of an unidentified male upstairs. No phone, wallet or ID. No car in the driveway. The house is full of boxes, Neighbour says a woman moved in a couple of weeks ago, though he's not met her yet. He's got no idea who the bloke is. There's no sign of the female occupant." He finished and looked up at his partner. Ronnie turned to the two older men but the words were taken out of his mouth at the sight of their ashen faces.

"Gerry? What's up mate?" He asked softly. His old friend looked at him stricken.

"That's Sandra's house..."

/

Author's note. More soon. I've got this story written already, I just have to transfer it from paper to computer...

…..If you want to know what happens that is! ;-D


	2. Chapter 2

New Order

Disclaimer in part one.

/

"_That's Sandra's house..."_

Ronnie stared at his old friend, Matt looked between the three older men.

"Ronnie, what's...?"

"Gerry here, and Mr Halford work for UCOS, that's.."

"Unsolved crime and open case unit, yeah I know..."

"Sandra is their boss."

"Boss? As in..."

"Detective Super Intendant Sandra Pullman." Jack clarified. He took a breath, "Can we take a look."

"Well... Technically we shouldn't, but..."

"You said there was a body." Gerry half whispered. Matt nodded.

"A male, in the bedroom. No ID...Was...Is she involved with anyone?" He asked. Jack shrugged.

"She doesn't tend to confide in us about her boyfriends... " He told them , his eyes fixed on the flurry of uniforms in the front of the house. Gerry nodded.

"She tends to pick out complete tossers, her record with men isn't brilliant."

"Gerry, I know this will be difficult, but do you think you could take a look, maybe you'll have seen him before." Ronnie asked softly, He watched his friend steel himself and nod. Matt passed them some latex gloves and shoe covers.

"Anything to help find her. She must be hurt..." He started to walk towards the house, the men made their way through the small hallway and up the stairs, careful not to touch the numerous blood smears which covered the walls and bannister rail. At the top of the stairs they were met buy a woman dressed in a white paper suit, carrying a black bag. She gave Ronnie a small smile.

"Morning Joy, anything?" He greeted her, she shrugged.

"I haven't been in the bedroom yet, I was waiting for you. I did have a quick look out here. Do you see this?" She pointed to a large patch of blood on the wall, the men nodded. "I found some long blonde hairs in the blood, I think somebodies head impacted the wall here." Ronnie turned to Gerry and Jack.

"I don't suppose she has..." They nodded.

"She's blonde." Jack confirmed. Joy looked at them puzzled. Ronnie introduced them.

"Jack and Gerry work a cold case squad. The lady who lives here is their boss, she's one of us." He added. Joy sighed.

"That won't make this any easier. This mark over here.." She pointed to a stain on the opposite wall. "This is a partial foot print."

"A foot print? That means..." Matt started, Gerry finished his sentence.

"She was being carried, and not very carefully." He closed his eyes. Jack put his hand over his mouth, he had seen his share of crime scenes, but this was the first time he had felt physically sick. Ronnie's voice brought him out of his stunned state.

"Let's get this over with." He said, and indicated for Joy to lead the way. They entered the main bedroom, the side table was tipped over and there were bottles and cosmetics scattered over the floor. A number of cardboard boxed still stood in the corner, obviously yet to be unpacked, yet there were clothes hanging on the back of a chair, mens and womens. The scene was dominated by the figure laying in the middle of the floor, the blood spattered bed clothes tangled on the floor beside the naked body of a man, face down, the back of his head covered in blood, which had pooled into the cream carpet.

"I don't suppose you recognise him?" Matt asked. Gerry looked at the younger man.

"Not from his arse, no. I might if I saw his face." He hissed, Jack laid a hand on his arm. Gerry took a breath. "Sorry." He sighed. Matt gave him a half smile.

"It's alright, it was a bit of a stupid thing to ask." They watched as the SOCO took several photographs before she put her camera down.

"Right, let's turn him over and see what we have." She and her assistant gently turned the corpse over, revealing the bloody and bruised face of the victim. Jack and Gerry both gasped in unison.

"Strickers?" Gerry exclaimed. They looked at the prone form in front of them in shock. Ronnie looked from one to the other.

"You do know him?" It was only half a question, it was obvious from the men's reaction that they knew the dead man. Gerry nodded.

"It's Strickland... I mean, DAC Robert Strickland. Our unit supervisor." He whispered in shock. Jack looked as white as a ghost. Matt coughed.

"I'm guessing that you had no idea that they were..." He let the end of the question filter away as the men shook there heads. "I suppose that's understandable. It's a difficult position."

"Is he a friend?" Ronnie asked softly. Jack looked at him.

"If you'd have asked me yesterday, I'd have laughed at you, but seeing him... like this...I suppose he was, yes."

"Can we cover him, please." Gerry pleaded. "At least give him some dignity."

Ronnie looked at Joy who nodded. He took a sheet which the assistant held out for him and covered the naked body up to the waist. The Doctor was looking at the wounds on the man's face and head.

"He's been hit with a heavy object, once on the side of the head, then again on the back of the head, probably while he was down...

"Bastards!" Gerry exclaimed. She carried on.

"These bruises look like shoe marks, he was kicked in the head at least twice while he was down." She picked up his arm. "His knuckles are bruised and grazed. He put up a fight, hopefully I'll be able to get some evidence of his attackers when we get him back to the mortuary. Her assistant held a wrist as she slipped a plastic bag over the hand. He suddenly looked puzzled.

"Doctor?" He asked nervously. She looked at him.

"What is it Jamie?"

"Doctor, I think...I think I can feel a pulse.." He stuttered. She frowned and took the wrist from him, she held it for a few moments before she looked up at Ronnie.

"Get an ambulance! He's still with us!"

/


	3. Chapter 3

New Order

Discalimer: See part 1

/

"_Get an ambulance! He's still with us!"_

The next few minutes passed in a blur, Gerry could hardly make sense of it. One moment he was watching the SOCO try to breathe life into the barely alive DAC, then he was watching as Jack climbed into the back of the ambulance, sitting next to the green suited paramedics as they worked on the stricken man. The ambulance doors shut, sirens blazing as it drove into the distance, Gerry stood in shock, his mind racing, conjuring a hundred different images of the events which may have lead to one of his best friends being missing and a man who he hadn't even realised was a friend, being carted off in an ambulance, barely alive. He jumped as a hand touched his shoulder. He turned and saw the kind eyes of Ronnie watching him with an understanding look on his face. Beside him, Matt watched, waiting. Gerry smiled softly.

"Sorry mate. I know this is something of a shock, but, well you know how it works, the quicker we get information..."

"The quicker you find her." Gerry finished nodding. "Anything I can do to help, Sandra is more than a colleague, she's a friend, a good one."

"But you had no idea about her and your boss?" Matt asked, Gerry bristled slightly, but relaxed as he realised that it was a valid question. He shook his head.

"No, we had no idea, but that's not surprising. He can be a bit of a wanker, but, well, I suppose that comes with the job description. His hearts in the right place though. It was really a matter of time before they ended up together, they've been dancing around each other for years." He sighed.

"Look. I know you probably just want to get to the hospital, but we need to ask you a few things." Ronnie pointed out. Gerry rubbed his face and nodded. "Have you been working on anything that might have attracted the wrong sort of attention, maybe turned over a few rocks which something's crawled out from under?" Gerry shook his head.

"No nothing, I mean we took down Ricky Hanson a few years back, but we've not heard anything from him. Strickers pulled the plug on Bob MacAdam, the bent DCI. But that was a while ago as well. Of late we've been a bit quiet, and we've spent the last week on the yearly audit. There's nothing I can think of. I'll give Brian a ring and see if he can think of anything..."

"Brian?"

"Brian Lane, the other member of our unit. If we've kicked any ants nests, he'll remember." Gerry looked down at the ground. "I really need to call him anyway, he needs to know." Ronnie nodded and moved away slightly, Matt followed. Gerry took out his phone and looked at it for a moment before he dialled the office number. He waited patiently until he heard the broad northern accent on the other end.

"UCOS."

"Brian, it's Gerry..."

"It's about bloody time! Are you lot coming to work at all today? Lucky for us there's no sign of Strickland yet..."

"Brian!"

"What?"

"Brian, something's happened..."

"What? What is it? Is Sandra alright?..."

"Brian! If you shut up for a minute!..." He stopped and took a breath. "Brian, Sandra's been taken...from her house."

"Taken?" He could hear Brian beginning to panic.

"Brian, listen mate, we need you to focus. Have we worked on anything recently which might have kicked up a storm, upset any criminal sorts?" He asked, he knew that the best way to keep Brian on the ball was to give him something to work on. He could hear the other man tapping at his keyboard.

"Nothing comes to mind...I can have a look. Perhaps Strickland has something lined up that we don't know about yet."

"That's a possibility..."

"I'll call him, he needs to know about Sandra...Maybe he can find out what's happening." He could hear the quiver in Brian's voice and dreaded what he had to do next.

"Brian. Strickland was here... when the abduction took place. The bastards beat him to a pulp. The first uniforms on the scene thought he was dead, he's on his way to St Hugh's, Jack's gone with him." He waited for the information to sink in.

"Strickland? What was he doing at Sandra's?"

"Looks like the two of them are an item...Brian, see what you can find out, then get back to me, I'll meet you at the hospital as soon as I can."

"Right...Right. I'll get Esther to pick me up...See you in a bit." He heard the line go dead and knew that his friend was working on autopilot, focusing on the job in hand. He was glad that he was going to ring Esther, the formidable spouse would keep the most volatile member of the team stable...He hoped. He turned back to Ronnie.

"He's going to check, but he can't think of anything off hand." He told the other man. Suddenly Matt came jogging back to them.

"We've got a break, two people were just arrested on the Lark Mead estate posing as our two police officers. They were trying to gain entry into a pensioners flat, but he rumbled them and called us. They were driving a Met owned Merc registered to our DAC Strickland. They've been taken in and the uniforms are waiting for us before they start interviewing them." He gasped, out of breath. Ronnie nodded.

"Right, it's a start..." He turned to Gerry. "I know you probably want to come, but you also know that it's out of the question, but I promise I'll call you as soon as I know anything. Anything at all." Gerry was about to argue, but realised that his friend was right, if he went along, he'd probably just start breaking heads, and that wouldn't do Sandra any good. He realised that Ronnie was still talking. "Gerry! Did you hear?" He shook his head.

"No sorry. I was miles away...Go on."

"S'alright mate. I said, go to the hospital. There are probably people who need phoning. Let me know if our boy wakes up. I'll keep you in the loop and if you think of anything, let me know." He handed Gerry a card. "That's my mobile, text me your number. Gerry, trust me mate."

"I do Ronnie, I do. If it was any other copper in charge...I know that if anyone can find her..." He let the words die on his lips, The younger man nodded.

"I'll find her. If it's the last thing I do. You have my word."

/


	4. Chapter 4

New Order

Disclaimer in part 1.

/

Ronnie sat down at the table in the dingy depressing room. It was a functional space, four chairs, a table and the recording apparatus it's only contents. It's purpose was to give it's occupants nothing to distract them or make them feel at ease, to draw out the truth. Comfort was not in the mind of the designers.

The chair next to him was already occupied by Angie, the female officer who served alongside him and Matt in the MIU and who Ronnie believed was probably the most efficient and conscientious of all the junior officers he worked with. He'd rather have half a dozen 'Angies' than a hundred production line 'officers'. He waited as she turned on the recorder, giving it the details of those in the room, he heard her say the name 'Justin Combes' and regarded the figure sitting opposite, the man's court appointed lawyer sitting next to him, writing notes on a spiral note book. Combes was a gangly, pale man in his early thirties. His stringy dirty blonde hair and pale face making him look a lot older. Ronnie cleared his throat.

"Can I have a cuppa?" The man opposite him asked gruffly. Ronnie looked over the top of his glasses at him.

"What's the magic word?" He scolded. The man pulled a face, rolling his eyes.

"Please!" He answered sarcastically.

"No. Now I assume you know why we're here?" He retorted. The lawyer continued to make notes, spoke without looking up.

"I'd appreciate it if you would lose the sarcasm DS Brooks, my client is well aware that he has been caught in a little deception, he had no intention of robbing Mr Carlisle. He and his partner have been worried recently at how vulnerable the elderly residents of the flats are and were attempting to make a point to bring to the notice of the authorities." The grey suited monotone drawled, as if his life was way too important to be stuck in this dreary room with these equally dreary people. He completely missed the dark look which crossed Ronnie's face.

"Really?" He fought to keep his voice level. "Then your client won't mind telling me where he got the warrant cards and IDs he and his partner used to try and gain entry into Mr Carlisle's flat."

"Found 'em." Combes shrugged.

"Found Them? Where?"

"Dunno. In the road."

"Which road?"

"Dunno..."

"Mr Brooks. How is it my clients fault if two of your finest are careless enough to lose such sensitive documents?" Ronnie bristled, fighting with his temper. He felt a calming hand on his leg, bringing him back to his senses. He smiled gently at Angela, giving her a small nod of gratitude.

"You found them perhaps in King Stephen's court this morning?" He watched as the louse opposite fidgeted slightly in his seat.

"Maybe, yeah."

"In the path, on the road..."

"Ummmm..."

"In the driveway of number nineteen?" The man looked up at him, and Ronnie could see worry and fear for the first time, the lawyer looked up as well. Ronnie went in for the kill. "Did you take them from the house, or maybe from the bedroom after you beat DAC Robert Strickland to death..." Both the men opposite stared at him in shock, the lawyer looked nervously at the man beside him, realising for the first time that he may be looking at more than a simple robbery. The greasy man sat upright, his mouth dropping open.

"NO! No No No...I Never, I mean we didn't...We didn't go no further than the bottom of the stairs. I swear..."

"Tell me." Ronnie prompted. The man looked lost and glanced at his brief. The grey man nodded, conveying to his client that the only thing that might save him was the truth.

"We was trawling for houses. Me and Jas. Looking for easy targets, you know garden ornaments, fancy door knockers and like. I got a cousin who has a market stall and he'll pay for old antique stuff."

"What time was this?"

"About five. We'd looked at the house a while back 'cause it was empty and it had some fancy ironwork window boxes front and back. When we got there, we saw the door open. We just had a peek like. It was still pretty dark and there was no one around. Then we saw the handbag and wallet sitting on the table by the door, there were keys as well. We grabbed them and scooted, the keys fitted the nice Merc in the drive so we went for a little ride. Jas found the police stuff when she was looking through the bag, so we thought we could knock over a few of the pensioners in the flats, then we'd dump the stuff." He rushed. Ronnie looked at the pathetic specimen of a human in front of him with disgust, he was sure that he was a low life, but doubted the piece had the guts to kill.

"You didn't see anything else, no vehicles, people hanging about?"

"Only a cat. We didn't hurt anyone."

Ronnie took a breath.

"Upstairs in that house, a man lay with his head beaten in, he's been rushed to hospital, but it doesn't look good. Maybe if you had raised the alarm, he might have stood a better chance..."

"You said he was dead!"

"Did I, sorry, but he still might die, and we don't know where his partner is, she was removed from the house by force and we have no idea where she is. Both the victims are police officers, which as you can imagine has made us all a little bit anxious to find someone to answer for it..."

"Wasn't us!" Combes voice went up an octave. "I swear..."

"So here is what you are going to do." Ronnie continued, "You and 'Jas' are going to sit down together and try to remember every single detail of this morning. You are going to confess to taking the Ids and trying to obtain money by deception. And you are going to tell me where the car is." Ronnie growled. Combes nodded.

"We parked it in the Tesco car park up on the main road. Didn't want to risk taking a pretty car like that onto the estate. The wallet and stuff is still in the back. I put the keys up inside the front bumper, on the passenger side" He looked at his brief. "I'll hold me 'ands up to taking the wallet and other stuff, and the Merc, and yes we was going to do the old fogies out of a few quid, but we never did over a couple of coppers. Swear on me life!" The lawyer looked at Ronnie who stood.

"Wait here." He said firmly. He stood and opened the door, vaguely hearing Angie tell the recorder that the interview had been suspended and DS Brooks had left the room. He stepped into the adjoining room, where his Boss, DI Natalie Chandler stood watching through the one way glass.

"You believe him?" She asked. He nodded.

"Yeah, he's a piece of shit, but not a killer. Her?" He turned to the other glass in the room, where Matt was interviewing 'Jas' with another WPC. Natalie shrugged.

"Telling pretty much the same story. But you know, our victims weren't a couple of pushovers, I can't imagine either of these being able to do this." Ronnie shook his head in agreement.

"Nah, plus from the smell of him, he's been wearing those clothes for a while, if he'd have been there, he'd have blood on him, it was everywhere. No, I think we've caught a couple of low lifes, but not our scum." He got his phone out and started searching for a number. Natalie looked at him puzzled.

"Who are you calling?" She asked. He looked at her over the top of his glasses.

"Gerry Standing." He said she shook her head slightly. "He's with UCOS, our victims team." He elaborated. Natalie frowned.

"Ronnie, do you think it's a good idea to involve them,they are personally involved..."

"Nat, if it was one of us, we'd want to know. He's a friend, we've known each other for years, besides, if you have heard anything at all about UCOS, you'd know that they are going to get involved, whether we let them or not, we might as well keep them on side." He smiled gently. "Don't worry, I'll keep them in check, they won't do anything to compromise our investigation, any way, at the rate we're going, we may need all the help we can get."

/


	5. Chapter 5

New Order

Disclaimer in part 1.

/

'Good things come to those who wait!' Gerry remembered how his old Mum used to tell him that as a boy, he didn't believe her then, and he certainly didn't now.

Sitting here in this characterless waiting room, looking at the endlessly depressing information posters and leaflets scattered around, he wondered if they were put there to take your mind off the real reason you were sitting here. If you weren't ill when you came in, you'd be convinced you had something by the time you left. He glanced across at the faces of his closest friends, Brian and Esther, sitting side by side, Brian flicking at the buttons on his laptop, trying to fill this endless waiting with some sort of activity, to keep that incredible brain of his from conjuring up images which he really didn't want to consider. Esther, ever the provider had kept the little group supplied with tea and coffee whilst at the same time keeping her volatile husband focused on whatever he was researching.

Jack worried him. The oldest member of the team had been sat almost motionless since Gerry had arrived at the hospital. Strickland had been rushed away by a hospital team as soon as they had arrived, and Jack had been waiting ever since. They had been shown to the little room and told that somebody would come and see them as soon as there was any news, that had been hours ago. It had been over an hour since Ronnie Brooks had called him and told him that the two lowlifes they had arrested had nothing to do with Sandra's disappearance.

He wandered over and sat down next to his friend, laying a gentle hand on the man's shoulder.

"You alright Mate?" He asked, Jack jumped slightly as Gerry's question brought him out of his thoughts. He nodded slightly.

"Just not very good at waiting." He sighed, before a dark look crossed his features. "And I feel so bloody useless, we should be out there, looking for Sandra, not stuck in this sodding room waiting for...for..."

"For the doctors to bring us news about a bloke we don't even like?" Gerry finished. Jack looked down at the floor.

"I wouldn't go that far." Jack answered. "Anyway, why hasn't anybody else come, where's his family?" Gerry shrugged.

"It's just us for now. His ex and kids live in Miami, evidently she married a millionaire film producer, and they prefer the fame and fortune of the movie business to the glamour of being a police family, he's not seen them since they left."

"That's harsh. What about that twit of a nephew?"

"In Japan on a two year forensics course."

"Isn't there anybody else?"

"Nope. Looks like it's just us."

"How do you know all this?"

"I phoned the Assistant Commissioner, I wanted to let him know what's happened...If you get my meaning."

"What did he say?"

"He already knew...About Strickers and Sandra being together that is. He asked if one of us could stay, as there wouldn't be anybody else coming."

Gerry looked down at the floor, trying to hide the anger and frustration which crossed his features. Jack saw though.

"What else?"

"He said that we were under no circumstances to get involved with the investigation." Gerry hissed. Jack closed his eyes.

"Gerry, you know this Ronnie Brooks. Can we trust him? I mean will he find her?" Jack whispered. Gerry grinned slightly.

"He's one of the best. He'll not give up."

"I knew him." Brian's voice cut in. Jack and Gerry looked over to their friend. He continued. "We went to the same AA police counsellor." He whispered. Jack frowned. Gerry explained.

"It's why he left vice, his marriage broke up, pressure of the job, he turned to the bottle."

"But unlike me, he got himself sorted." Brian explained. "He's a good copper."

"I trust him Jack. If I had to put Sandra's life in anybodies hands, it would be his."

"I hope your right, because that's exactly what we've done."

/

Author's note. Just a little filler. More to follow. xxx


	6. Chapter 6

New Order

Disclaimer in chapter 1

Rating M. Some bad language here.

/

"Nothing! Fucking waste of time!"

Matt's exclamation made Ronnie look up from his desk, his glasses perched on his head. DI Natalie Chandler had also heard the outburst and came from her office to see what had riled the younger man so.

"No progress?" She asked. Ronnie shook his head.

"None of the cases that UCOS have looked into recently could have caused this."

"What about the high profile cases you mentioned earlier?" She queried. Matt sighed.

"Nothing. DAC John Felsham has spent the last ten months in segregation, he's not the most popular person in prison evidently. His wife, family and friends cut all ties with him when the extent of his crimes came out, and he now spends his time sharing a courtyard for an hour a day with perverts and kiddy fiddlers. Richard Hanson has also been abandoned by his former associates who have basically divvied up his assets since he was put away."

"I had a word with one Derek Hadley, formerly known as Chopper Hadley." Ronnie continued. "He was put inside by the UCOS lot as well, but he's in a prison hospital ward dying of bowel cancer. He told me that the only score he has to settle is with, and I quote, 'that little bastard Gerrard, if he hadn't tried to screw me I'd be breathing my last on the Costa Del Sol, being waited on by some busty Spanish nurses, instead of in this hole'. Unquote."

"Nobody else?"

"Guv, if we have to talk to everybody UCOS has put away over the last eight years, we'll be here forever. Do you have any idea of their clear-up rate?"

"Enlighten me."

"Ninety eight percent. They are the most successful unit at the met to date."

"Have you looked into DAC Strickland?"

"Not really, it would seem likely that Pullman was the target. If it was him, why beat him nearly to death then take her? Doesn't make sense." Ronnie saw his boss frown, so he interrupted. "However, the Met are sending over all of his current paperwork, just to be sure."

They were interrupted by the ringing of the phone which Matt answered, followed by a tap at the door. A uniformed officer entered with a piece of paper.

"Sorry to interrupt, but I was asked to bring this to you." He held out the slip of paper. Ronnie looked at it, it was an address. He looked questioningly at the officer. "Mr Charles Souch-Peterham received a malicious letter this morning threatening his family. Someone has to go and see him."

"Surely that's a uniform job." Natalie argued. The uniform shrugged.

"Orders from above. Evidently he belongs to the same country club as the Commissioner. Got to send a senior detective."

"Of course, what is one missing officer and another bludgeoned nearly to death when Mr Peterham has had a nasty letter!" Ronnie snarled. The uniform held up his hands.

"Sorry. Don't shoot the messenger." He retreated from the office. Ronnie looked at Nat and was about to argue when Matt hung up the phone.

"We've got something." He exclaimed. "That was SOCO Pete. They went to town on the flat, and besides the two victims they found a set of fingerprints on the inside of the letterbox. Might be the previous tenant."

"You haven't had any luck tracing them through the estate agent?"

"The house was owned by a letting company before. They have been less than helpful." Ronnie explained. Matt took a paper from the fax.

"The fingerprints were in the system. A Kenneth Trent, done for drink driving two months ago. Here's his current address." He handed the paper to Ronnie who glanced at it as he stood, but he froze in place. Matt and Natalie looked at him in puzzlement.

"What?" Matt asked. Ronnie held up the paper that Matt had just handed to him, then he held the paper from the uniformed officer next to it.

"The addresses." He said. "They're the same."

/


	7. Chapter 7

New Order

Disclaimer in chapter 1.

/

Ronnie and Matt pulled up outside the huge wooden gates, leading into the drive of the address they had been given. Ronnie wound the window down and pressed the button on the speaker.

"Can I help?" Came the clipped voice, made metallic by the speaker.

"DS Brooks and DS Devlin to see Mr Souch-Peterham." Ronnie replied. He watched as the gates opened.

"Please follow the driveway, we are expecting you." The voice replied. Ronnie turned to Matt and raised his eyebrows before starting up the graveled drive. They stopped at the top and got out, looking at the huge wooden door.

"Wow, this is some place." Matt whispered. Ronnie nodded, then turned as the door opened and a suited figure beckoned for them to enter.

"Mr Souch-Peterham?" Ronnie asked. The man shook his head.

"My name is Niles. I'm Mr Peterham's assistant. The family are waiting in the orangery, please follow me." He led them inside, and eventually they found themselves being shown into huge, glass conservatory. A man in his sixties stood and faced them.

"Mr Peterham. These are the police officers." The butler announced.

"Detective Sergeant Brooks and Detective Sergeant Devlin." Ronnie clarified. The man smiled.

"Thank you for coming. Niles, could we have some tea please." The butler left and the man gestured to sit."

"Mr Souch-Peterham..."

"Charles, please. It's less of a mouthful. I'm sorry for dragging you out here, but this frightful package rather scared my wife. I'm afraid she may have over reacted."

"How do you mean Sir?" Matt asked.

"Well, the photo's are disturbing, but as they are not my daughter, they must be fake. It's just some horrible prank."

"Sir. Please could you start from the beginning?" Ronnie asked. The man nodded.

"Quite right. This morning, a large envelope was delivered by courier. Inside was a demand for one hundred thousand pounds. The demand stated that they have my daughter, and I must pay for her safe return. At first we were alarmed of course, but I phoned my daughter and she's quite safe. She's in France with her fiance."

"Why is she in France?"

"She lives there. He's has a teaching job in Paris and they moved there a few weeks ago."

Just then a woman in her sixties and a young man in his twenties entered the room. "Ah, please let me introduce my wife Helena, and my nephew Kenny."

"Mr Kenneth Trent?" Matt asked. The young man nodded nervously. "Have you been to a house in King Stephen's court recently?"

"Yes. My cousin lived there until she moved to Paris. I stayed there sometimes."

Matt looked over to Ronnie. Ronnie nodded.

"Please could someone explain?" Helena Souch-Peterham asked, her voice nervous.

"This morning, number nineteen King Stephen's court was broken into, a man was beaten unconscious in his bedroom, his partner is missing. We believe that she has been taken by force."

"Oh, Charles! Those photographs, some poor woman..." Helena began, turning pale. The young man wrapped his arm around her.

"Sit down Aunt Helena." He helped her to a vacant seat.

"Kenneth, please could you fetch that wretched envelope, it's on my desk." Charles asked, his voice shaky. The young man nodded and left the room. "You think this woman may have been taken by mistake? These monsters thought they were kidnapping my daughter?"

"Could I ask your daughter's name?"

"It's Alexandra." He replied.

"Alexandra Souch-Peterham, Sandra Pullman. Not a million miles away." Matt pointed out. Just then, Kenny returned with the envelope. He handed it to Ronnie. Ronnie put on a pair of latex gloves and looked at the family.

"Who has handled the envelope and it's contents?"

"Myself, my wife, Kenny and Niles. That's all."

"We will be asking for you to give us a sample of DNA and your fingerprints, to separate you from any others that might be here." Ronnie explained as he opened the envelope. The family nodded.

"Can you remember anything about the courier?" Matt asked.

"Niles answered the door. He'll be back with the tea soon." Charles answered. Ronnie read the letter out loud.

"_We have your little princess, we want ten thousand pounds for her safe return or you'll get her back in little pieces. We'll be in contact. Alert the police if you want, but if they interfere, she's dead." _He took out some polaroid photo's, they showed a naked, blonde woman, her mouth and eyes covered with duct tape, the same tape binding her wrists and ankles. She was lying on her side on a mattress in a white washed room. There was blood in her hair and on her body, and the evidence of a bruise on the side of her head. Ronnie looked over to Matt and nodded.

"It's our girl." He confirmed. He looked at the shaken family. The older man stood and straightened his shoulders.

"Anything I can do to help. Anything." He told Ronnie. Ronnie gave him a quiet smile.

"Thank you. The first thing you need to do is the most important. When the kidnappers contact you, you must not give away that they have the wrong woman. Her life depends on that." He held up the picture. The man nodded.

"Of course." He agreed.

Ronnie put the pictures and letter back into the envelope and sealed it inside a plastic evidence bag.

"Right. Matt, get onto Natalie, we need the usual, phone taps video, SOCO, the usual. Get this to Pete, see what he can get off it." He handed Matt the envelope. "And Matt, phone the UCOS lot, fill them in." Matt nodded and left the room, pulling his phone out as he went. Ronnie turned back to the family.

"Can you think of anybody who might do this, or anything out of the ordinary which may have happened recently.." He took out his notebook, but one thought rolled around his mind. She had been kidnapped for ransom, that meant there was a good chance that she was alive. He made a silent plea to any supreme being who may be listening, to keep her that way until he could find her.

/


	8. Chapter 8

New Order

Disclaimer in chapter 1.

/

Despair.

She had gone through a whole range of emotions over the last several hours, fear, anger, terror, disgust, none of them very nice emotions, but now the only one she could feel was a hopeless despair, which was eating at her soul and leaving her feel cold.

Cold on the inside that is. She was bloody frozen physically, lying naked in this frigid room, the damp, musty mattress was leaching the heat from her, her only covering was the duct tape covering her eyes, mouth, and binding her wrists and ankles. She had curled into a foetal ball, trying desperately to keep some of her body heat to herself. But the cold in her stomach came from a much deeper place.

He was dead. She choked back a sob, she had already cried until her eyes stung, the piece of rag under the duct tape was soaked with her salty tears which had no where else to go. He was gone, before she had even had the chance to tell her boys about him.

The guilt ate at her, it had been her idea to keep their relationship secret from the team, she had worried that her boys would disapprove of her relationship with the boss, so she had kept him as her dirty little secret, pretending he was just another colleague, when he was so much more to her. She hadn't set out to become involved with him, in fact until they had put away John Felsham, she had pretty much had the same view of him as they had, but then she had agreed to go for a drink with him, just one drink, but that's all it took for her to see a whole new side to him, a side which she had fallen for completely. One drink had led to a dinner, then more, until they were practically living together. And yet, she still hadn't told her boys about him, about the most important person in her life. Six months now they had been together, half a year which had changed her life and made her feel more loved and secure than she had felt since she was a child.

And now he was gone. She couldn't wipe the images from her mind, the thug hitting her lover from behind as he fought like a lion to get to her, the dull thud as he fell, and the maniacal laughter as the thug stamped on him, again and again.

The blood. It had been everywhere, she had managed to fight her way free from the grasp of the bastard who had a hold of her, she had run to her love, her heart shattering as she saw his unmoving body, the blood soaking the carpet around his head. The thug had dragged her away, hitting her several times, but her fury had kicked in and she had given him a hard time, until he had slammed her head into a wall, that was the last thing she could remember.

She had woken up in this room, already bound, gagged and blindfolded. She could hear voices, some distance away, but nobody had bothered with her. She had waited, listened, but nobody had come. She had no idea why she was here, she had racked her brain, trying to make some kind of sense of it, but her mind kept on wandering, back to the evening before, when she had been laying in the arms of her lover, bathing in the afterglow of their lovemaking, his soft, clipped voice whispering to her as she had fallen asleep in his arms, then the sight of his lifeless body, his blood on her hands where she had reached for him.

She hadn't reckognised any of the men who had broken into her house, she had racked her memory, trying to piece together why this had happened, what they wanted. Nothing, she couldn't think of one single reason why she was in this room. Why they had killed Rob.

Rob, her Rob. She suddenly realised that she couldn't curl up and die, she had to live, so that she could see the bastards who killed the one man who had made her feel like she was complete get what they deserved. The despair gave way to determination, and she steeled herself against the cold and pain.

Oh yes, she would make them pay dearly.


End file.
